44 FlightJournal.com
Never stay still
East India Flying Squadron Gets
Bloodied
After completing advanced pilot training, Wel-
lum was posted straight to No. 92 (East India)
Squadron at RAF Northolt where his young age
earned him the nickname “Boy.” He felt the RAF
was the best flying club in the world, and was
elated to have joined the most elite section of
that club: Fighter Command. Wellum arrived on
the Squadron just as it was put on operational sta-
tus, and he sensed an underlying tension behind
the smiles and laughter in the officers’ mess. The
men knew the gravity of war would soon make
its presence felt.
On the morning of May 23, No. 92 Squadron
was given its first taste of combat, when scram-
bled to provide fighter cover to the defeated
British Expeditionary Forces. Desperately trying
to evacuate from Dunkirk, the troops trapped
on the beaches were being pounded by Luft-
waffe bombers while the enemy soldiers drew
ever closer. Wellum felt useless. He had not even
seen a Spitfire close up, let alone flown one, and
watched helplessly as his new colleagues got air-
borne. Upon reaching the French coast they were
intercepted by Bf 109s, and a burning Spit soon
tumbled downwards towards Dunkirk.
The loss held particular significance for Wel-
lum who said, “Pat Learmond was shot down in
flames and killed. Pat was the chap who looked
after me my first night in the mess with 92 Squad-
ron. Next morning he was dead.”Scrambled again in the afternoon, the squad-
ron suffered further losses with Flight Lieuten-
ant Paddy Green badly wounded, Sergeant Paul
Klipsch killed, and Flight Officer John Gillies
downed over enemy territory. A resounding blow
was dealt when the commanding officer, Squad-
ron Leader Roger Bushell, was brought down and
taken captive (Bushell later masterminded the
mass breakout from Stalag Luft III, made famous
by 1963 movie The Great Escape). The following
day Peter Cazenove was forced to ditch his Spit-
fire Mk I P9374 on the beach at Calais.
The missing faces were a stark introduction
to the perils of aerial combat for Wellum: “Over
the two days we lost five very experienced pilots.
That made me think seriously about this fighter
squadron business and being in a war with cer-
tain gentleman in black-crossed aeroplanes.”His First Spitfire
Wellum’s first opportunity to fly the Spitfire left a
tremendous impression: “I can still see the Spit-
fire standing waiting for me, with the ground
crew looking as if to say, ‘Oh dear, another young
pilot. This is our aeroplane, hope he doesn’t
break it.’”
Once airborne, pure exhilaration took hold.
Wellum was struck by the machine’s beautiful
curves and effortless aerobatic ability. Knowing
that he was in a unique position and the envy
of many other young men, he remembers his
feelings at the time — “For a young chap of 18No. 92 Squadron made their
first kills on May 23, 1940 over
Dunkirk. They also suffered
their first serious losses, losing
six pilots in a matter of days.
One of the downed aircraft was
Spitfire Mk I P9374 flown by
Peter Cazenove. Rediscovered
in 1980, it is seen here in flight
post-restoration. (Photo by John
Dibbs/planepicture.com)